Top
Entertainment
Reo Hatate's early life and childhood

Reo Hatate's early life, childhood and career in Japan

Reo was a baseball kid when he was little!

Reo Hatate(旗手怜央 in kanji) was born in Suzuka City, Mie Prefecture. He was a baseball kid when he was little, as his father was an elite baseball player who once competed in a national tournament. However, when he entered elementary school, many of his friends around him started playing soccer, and he started playing soccer with his friends. At first he played both baseball and soccer, but before long he was playing only soccer.

After that, Reo was quick to get into soccer. He had the character to focus on one thing all the time since he was a little boy. Soon after he started playing soccer, he joined a club team, FC Yokkaichi Junior. However, there were only four players on this team at first. He had to be mixed with other teams to play matches. It was not a favorable environment, but he was ambitious and devoted to soccer. His idols at the time were former Brazilian national team members Robinho and Ronaldinho, so he put down the cone and practiced dribbling all the time.

While training with FC Yokkaichi Junior, Reo also began attending Coerver Coaching Soccer School when he was in second grade. Mr. Kobayashi, the coach at the time, had heard rumors about him before he actually met him. He had heard that some children were pedaling their bicycles too fast and breaking their chains. Coach Kobayashi heard this rumor from his wife, who happened to be Reo's kindergarten teacher.

When Kobayashi saw Reo play soccer for the first time, he was convinced that the story was not a lie. This was because Reo dodged opponents with split-second bursts of speed and did not fall over even when hit by them. He was not a big man, but he had tremendous physical ability. Moreover, he had plenty of competitive spirit and never failed to work hard.

The proof of his efforts was the annual New Year's greeting card that Coach Kobayashi received every year. When Reo was in the second grade, the New Year's greeting card said, "Now I can do 29 lifts, so next time I will do my best to do 55 lifts alternating left and right. Only one year later, the New Year's greeting card said, "I can now do 1858 lifts! I was so amazed at the incredible speed of my growth. Coach Kobayashi was amazed at the incredible speed of growth. It is very rare for elementary school students to be able to do hundreds of times. To exceed that by 1800 times is amazing and shows how hard he works once he sets a goal. By the way, the following year's New Year's card stated that he would be able to do lifting using various parts of his head and body.

Reo continued to play for FC Yokkaichi when he entered junior high school. Even as a junior high school student, soccer was the only thing on his mind. According to him, when he recalls his life in elementary and junior high school, all he can remember is soccer. He has spent every day of his life immersed in soccer, and he has spent every minute of his life playing soccer. He has spent his entire life playing soccer, and it would be easy for him to neglect other things, but this has not happened to him because of the teachings of his parents.

Reo spoke about his parents. "My parents never got mad at me for no reason, but they were both strict from the time I was little anyway. I would go out to play and say, 'I'll be back at 6 p.m.,' but if I came home after that time, my parents wouldn't let me in the house. When I was in junior high school, my mother made my lunch box and I promised to wash it by myself. One day I forgot to wash my lunch box and the next day it was empty. My parents were angry if I didn't do what I was supposed to do. Therefore, from the time I was a small child, I naturally started to do my own personal things. That has been connected with me all the way to the present."

Reo honed his physical and technical skills during his three years in junior high school, and by the time he moved from junior high to high school, he had one dream in mind. That dream was to participate in the National High School Soccer Championships. He agonized over which high school to enroll in. In the end, he decided on Shizuoka Gakuen High School, where his senior, who was two years older than him and an amazing dribbler, had gone to school. When he talked to his parents about the high school, they agreed. He left his hometown and his parents when he was in high school.

When Reo entered Shizuoka Gakuen High School, he was very surprised at how different it was. Especially intense was the fact that the team ran more than he had imagined. He had never been a good runner, but the amount of running he did in practice was extraordinary. On top of that, his teammates had good foot skills. Therefore, he thought he had chosen a tremendous high school. He worked hard to hone his individual skills so he wouldn't get shaken off the team. He started out in last place in running, so all he could think about was doing his best to keep up with the others. The first two months of practice were all he could do to keep up.

However, Reo was good at deciding on one thing and keeping at it for a long time, as he had been since he was a child. As he practiced hard every day, his technique improved and he was able to keep up with the others. This allowed him to start playing in games in the fall of his first year. His position was volante until junior high school, but he was converted to Left Midfielder. From there, he gradually developed his current goal-oriented style of play.

In his sophomore year of high school, Reo participated in the National High School Soccer Championship, a dream come true for him. In this tournament, he performed well enough to be selected for the Outstanding Player Award. However, he did not feel that his performance was good enough to receive this award. According to him, he only scored a goal, and he had the impression that others were more active. And in his last year of high school, he lost in the qualifying round and did not make it to this tournament.

Although Reo had a frustrating last year of high school, he is still motivated by the words of his soccer team coach. The coach did not tell him to "become a member of the national team," but to "join a team that plays in the UEFA Champions League. From that moment on, his goal became to join a top European team and play in the UEFA Champions League.

Reo then decided to choose to go to college to become a professional. He chose Juntendo University, which was the university where all of his seniors who were aces at Shizuoka Gakuen went. However, he did not do that well when he first entered the university. This was because his senior in high school was an absolute regular at Left Midfielder, the same position he was at. He thought he would not be able to play in a game until his senior graduated.

For Reo, the coach converted him to a FW position. When he was given a new position, he thought about what he needed to do in order to play there and worked on it. Gradually, he began to score goals and naturally took up the position.

Reo said about that time, "I don't know if I can play in a game even if I get converted to a position. But I thought hard about what I would do to play in the games. On the other hand, if I had become a regular player right after entering university, I would have become a "tengu" (a kind of ego). When I was a senior in high school, I was a bit of a "tengu" in some ways. I have grown by putting myself in demanding and high-level environments. So I think it is very important for me to put myself in a tough environment."

After switching to FW, Reo won the rookie of the year title in the Kanto University Soccer League, scoring nine goals in his first year. As a sophomore, he was called up to the All-Japan University Selection and the national team for his generation. By that time, he was convinced he could turn pro. However, he thought it was impossible to be the best of the best. Therefore, he set his goals even higher and practiced harder. He was also inspired by the high-level players he met at the All-Japan University Selections and the generation-specific representatives.

In 2019, Reo, a junior in college, signed a professional contract with Kawasaki Frontale. He chose Kawasaki Frontale largely because, as before, he wanted to be in the toughest environment he could think of right now. Kawasaki Frontale was the team that had won the league championships and was considered the strongest team in the league. He thought that if he could play a game for such a team, it would prove that he was better at soccer than before.

When Reo officially joined Kawasaki Frontale in 2020, he immediately got an assist in his first game in February and scored his first professional goal in August. He played 31 games during the year, scoring five goals, and his team won the league championship. He played another 31 games in 2021, scoring five goals, and the team won back-to-back championships. In the game that decided the consecutive championship, he shed tears of joy without being seen. He was selected as one of the J. League's Best Eleven for 2021.

In December 2021 he moved to Celtic FC in Scotland along with Daizen Maeda and Yosuke Ideguchi. In 2022 he played in a Champions League game, which had been his goal since high school.

sources